Lawn-mower.



$. T. NELSON.

LAWN MOWER.

APPLIUATION FILED 13120.6, 1909.

96 780 Patented June 28,1910. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. T. NELSON.

LAWN MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. a, 1909.

' 962,780,, Patsnted June 28,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

SVEN r; Nansen, or CHICAGO, rL lINoIs.

' LAWN-MOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jane 28, 1910..

Application filed'Deceniber 6, 1909. Serial No. 531,497.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SvnN T. NnLson, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Mowers; and I dohereby declare that the following is a ,full, clear, and'exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying draw- 1ings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a partofv this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement lawnmowers and consists of thecombination of parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointedout in the appended claims. 1

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved lawn mower.Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 1s a vertical sectionthrough Fig. 2 on the line 3-8 thereof. Fig. 4 1s a partial verticalsection through Fig. 2 on the line 4-4 thereof. Fig. 5 is a partialvertical section through Fig. 2 on the line 55 thereof.

A indicates the frame of the lawn mower, B, B, C, C, the front and rearwheels, respectively, upon; which said frame is mounted and'l), therotary cutter member provided with blades D which are adapted .to cutthe grass against a horizontal fixed blade E. These parts are mountedand arranged as usual except that no gearing is provided between theground Wheels B, B

and the cutter member shaft by means of which the same is driven as isthe case in the usual machine.

D indicates the cutter member shaft which is loosely journaled in theframeA. A sprocket wheel 0? is keyed to said shaft. Said sprocket wheelis driven by means of a sprocket chain al from a sprocket wheel f whichis loosely journaled on a shaft F of a gasolene motor F mounted in anysuitable manner on the rear of the frame above the ground wheels C, G. Findicates thefly wheel of the motor. Said sprocket wheel 1 is providedwith a hub f having clutch teeth f which are adapted to engage clutchteeth F formed on the hub of the'fiy wheel.

Arranged centrally of the machine frame A and at the rear thereof" is asuction pr ducing device comprising a fan casing G in which rotates afan G At the upperexhaust end of said fan casing is arranged an exhaustpipe 9 which projects forwardly and is then curved downward in the formof a dischar e spout g from which is suspended.-

a bag To the intake end of the drum G is attached a suction pipe G Whichis expanded fanwise at its lower end to form a vacuum chamber asindicated at G l The bottom wall of said vacuum chamber'rests on theblade'E and is provided on its front with a slot (3 which runs'thelength of said r blade and has its lower boundary formed by saidblade.The .knives' themselves are inclosed by a drum K provided with ends 7c.7

The circumferential wall of said drum ter minates on one side at theupper edge of the slot Gr as indicated at K and at the other sideterminates a short distance forward of a vertical plane through the axisof the drum, there being thus left a wide slot or longitudinalopening'in the drum to permit the grass to enter the cutting space.

- G indicates the shaft of the lower blower (see Fig. 2) which issupported on the frame in any convenient manner and projects to one sideof the frame where it is provided with a sprocket wheel G Said s rocketwheel is driven by a sprocket chain 7 from av sprocket wheel a? (seeFig. 5) which is keyed to thecutter shaft D It is apparent that asthecut grass falls on the blade E it will be drawn up into the suctionchamber G? and thence through the pipe G whence it will be forcedthrough the pipe 9 down through. the. spout g and into the bag J. Thesuction in the pipe G also produces a partial vacuu'miff the drum K sothat blades of grass, seeds of weeds sic and other similar particles,which might otherwise be carried around by the knives anddeposited onthe ound, will be dra- 11 into the suction cham er, then into thecollecting bag J. This action is a great advantage as itprevents theseeds of dandelions and other similar plants from being scattered overthe: lawnin the use of the mower.

In order to revent wet grass from clogging the tube vide a'box L on thebottom of said suction chamber G near its lower end and connect said boxby means of a tube Z to the exhaust of the engine indicated at 1 The hotgases from the exhaust thus enter the box lb and pass in contact withthe lower wall of the 2 or the opening G I pros i suctionchamber so asto heat it, and this parts to the wet grass which sticks to the walls ofsaid chamber G and the tube G and dries it; after it becomes dry thegrass is readily detached from the walls of the chamber, or from thewalls of-the tube, by

which is loosely mounted on the motor shaft :5. Said sprocket wheel isprovided with a clutch member 72 which is adapted to engage the teeth ofa clutch member 72 rigidly secured to rotate with the said shaft Eh Itis apparent that upon the engagement of said clutch members the groundwheel B will be driven from the motor F.

The frame of the mower machine is provided with guide handles C C bymeans of which the machine may be pushed, or by means of which it may beguided when the machine is power driven.

M, N indicate levers pivotally mounted on a plate M formed at the rearof the frame, which levers are provided with yokes m, n which arearranged tdthrow theclutch members of the sprocket wheels B and f,respectively, into and out of engagement with the driving clutchmembers. Asillustrated, said levers are operated by means of chains m4?? which are arranged to slide in staples secured to one of the handlesC the one m being operated by means of a handle m and the other by meansof a spring controlled lever n which is pivoted to/ the side of thehandle bar. Any other suitable mechanism for o crating the clutchmembers may beused. .4. spring M coiled about the shaft F engagesbetween the fixed wheel F clutch member 6 and the. hub of the sprocketwheel f, so as to normally hold the clutch teeth of said wheel inengagement with the clutch teeth on the hub of the fly In order toprevent small stones or twigs or other particles from entering the knifeI cutting space, I prefer to mount forward of the drum K a rotary rake Pprovided with teeth 22. Said rotary rake is journaled on a shaft 2mounted in vertically adjustable arms p and driven by means of a belt Pfrom the hub of one of the driving wheels B, in a direction opposite tothat in which the ground wheels are. turning, so that any stones ortwigs that are caught between the teeth will be pushed away from thedrum To prevent said twigsor stones from ,carried up by the teeth andthrown of the rake, I provide on the ma a series of forward anddownwardl curved wires Q, which lie between the teet of the rotary rake.Said wires Q are secured to a bar g which is riveted or otherwiseattached to the forward wall of the drum K;

The operation of my improved lawn mower is apparent from the abovedescription. ft ispushed and-guided overthe grass in the usual way bymeans of the handles (3, C and the fan G is driven by the motor. As thegrass is cut'it is drawn upthrough the pipe G and dischar ed into thebag J. When said bag is fille it is removed from the spout g emptied andreplaced and the operation of the machine-continued, The

operation of the rake wheel removes from the path of the machine anystones, twigs .or other things of that kind which might otherwise clogthe knives. The provision of the auxiliary suction chamber formed by thedrum K 1nsures the collection of all the smaller pieces of grass, whichmight otherwise escape the suction chamber, and I is of especialadvantage in that it collects the seeds of weeds which would ordinarilybe scattered over the lawn and be. thus widely disseminated bythe'action of the mower. The drying box L prevents wet grass fromclogging the suction chamber and makes it possible to use the machine incutting wet grass which may be more readily cut than dry grass. It isapparent that the mechanical detallsot construction herein shown anddescribed,

may be variously modified without depart-x ing from the s irit of myinvention and I do not wish to be limited by them except as pointed outin the, appended claims.

l claim as my invention g 1. In a lawn mower, in combination a rotarycutting member and a fixed cutting member'against which said rotarymember engages, asuction chamberlocated above the horizontal planepassing through said fixed cutting member providedwith a slot openingtoward said rotary cutting member, a suction pipe leading from said sucton chamber, means for producing suction in said suction pipe, a deliveryspout connected with said suction pipe, and a collecting memberremovably secured to said discharge spout.

2. ln a; lawn mower, in combination with a rotary cutting member and afixed cuttuig member against which said rotary member engages, a suctionchamber located above the horizontal plane passing through sald fixedcutting member provided with a slot opening toward said rotarycutting'member, an auxiliary suction chamber surrounding said rotarycutting member,- said auxlliary chamber opening about the bottom of therotary with cutting member, and being connected with I said first namedsuction chamber, a suction pipe'leading. from said suction chambergewmeans to produce suction in said pipe, a dis-'- connected with saidsuction pipe, and a collecting member removably secured to saiddischarge spout.

4. In a lawn mower, in combination with a rotary cutting member and afixed cutting member against which said rotary member engages, a suctionchamber located above the horizontal plane passing through said fixedcutting 1 member and provided with a slot opening toward said rotarycutting member, a suction pipe leading from said suction chamber, arotary fan and fan-casing adapted to produce suction in said suction,

pipe, a collector connected with said suction pipe, an explosive engineadapted to drive Silld fan, said motor having an exhaust, a

box secured to said suction pipe, and means for connecting the exhaustof said engine with said box. I

5. In a lawn mower, in combination with the rotary cutting member and afixed cutting member, against which said rotary member engages, asuction chamber located above the horizontal plane passing through saidfixed cutting member and provided with a slot opening toward said rotarycutting member, a suction pipe leading from said suction chamber, anexhaust fan and-casing adapted to produce suction in said suction pipe,amotor adapted to drive said exhaust fan, and means for operativelyconnecting the rotary cutter to said motor shaft.

61 In alawn mower, in combination with a rotary cutting member and afixed cutting member against which said rotary cutting member engages, asuction chamber located above the horizontal planepassing through saidfixed cutting member and provided with aslot opening toward said rotarycutting member, a suction pipe leading from said suction chamber, anexhaust fan and casing connected with said suction pipe, a motor adaptedto drive the exhaust fan, means for driving said rotary cutting memberfrom the motor shaft, and a rotary rake adjustably mounted in advance ofsaid rotary cutter.

7. In a lawn mower, in combination with a rotary cutting member and afixed cutting member against which said rotary cutting member engages, asuction chamber located above the horizontal plane passing through saidfixed cutting member and provided with a slot opening toward said rotarycutting member, a suction pipe leading from said suction chamber, anexhaust fan and casing connected with said suction pipe, a motor adaptedto drive the exhaust fan, means for driving said rotary cutting memberfrom the motor shaft, a rotary rake in advance of said rotary cutter,and a series of forward and downwardly curved teeth supported above saidrotary rake and depending in frpnt of and between the teeth of saidrotary ra re.

8. In a lawn mower, in combination with a frame provided with groundwheels, a rotary cutting-member carried by. said frame, a fixed cuttingmember against which said rotary cutting member engages, a suctionchamber located above the horizontal plane passing through said fixedcutting member. provided with a slot opening toward said rotary cuttingmember, an auxiliary suction chamber inclosin the rotary cutting memberand provided with an opening at its base which communicates with saidfirst suction chamber, a suction pipe leading from said first namedsuction chamber, an exhaust fan and easing connected withsaid firstnamed suction pipe, an-explosive engine adapted to drive said exhaust.member from said engine shaft, means for driving one of the carryingwheels of the lawn mower from said engine secured to the suction pipe,and a rotary rake member adjustably mounted on the forward part of thelawn mower frame in advance of the rotary cutting member.

In testimony, that I, claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 1st day of December, A.D. 1909.

SVEN rNE'LsoN. Witnesses:

CLARENCE E. MEHLHOPE, Gnonon R. WILKINS.

